Stephen J Root was born at F.E. Warren Air Force Base, which is located on the outskirts of Cheyenne, Wyoming. Since his father was in the Air Force, Stephen never lived in a place for more than a few years. While this provided some hardships, it also allowed him to see many aspects and beauties of the US and taught him to observe his surrounding, which has helped in training his skills as a cinematographer. His love for the performing arts started at a young age, with his lessons in music playing the trumpet and various roles in school plays.

While attending The University of South Florida, he discovered his talents behind the scenes in the lighting and set departments in the Theatre program. After graduating with a B.A in Theater Arts, Stephen left The Sunshine State for New York City to seek out work on the prestigious Broadway. In between finding stage technician jobs where he could, he started work on his first film sets. There, he put his talents to new use and quickly discovered he had a passion for the work. While primarily working as a PA, he closely observed the Cinematographer and his camera and grip and electric crews and realized that he wanted to become a cinematographer. So, he packed his bags and flew to the logical place to hone his skills.

Because he knew very little about the actual job of a Cinematographer, he attended classes at the California State University, in Los Angeles. His schooling there further enforced his passions for film and his desire to become a Cinematographer and realizing that he needed a much more in depth training, he applied to one of the top film schools in California, Dodge College of Film and Media Arts at Chapman University.

When his acceptance letter came in the mail, he was elated to be given the opportunity to realize his dream and to make a career from his passion. Now that he has graduated, his passion has grown even more and has had the pleasure of working with his fellow students, all of whom are as equally as passionate about filmmaking as he his and he's greatly looking forward to continuing his education and trainng on every future film project he can.